Jerry Remy's son held in girlfriend's slaying

Friday

Aug 16, 2013 at 9:31 AMAug 16, 2013 at 1:34 PM

THE BOSTON GLOBE

Jared W. Remy attacked Jennifer Martel, his girlfriend of seven years and the mother of their 4-year-old daughter, in the kitchen of their home, in the living room and on a stairway before pinning her to the ground of the patio where he stabbed her over and over and over again, a prosecutor said today.

At least one neighbor in the Windsor Village apartment complex where Remy allegedly murdered Martel Thursday night rushed to her aid and tried to pull the burly Remy off the woman - but was driven back when Remy slashed at them, Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Lisa McGovern said in court today.

“Great force and great effort was made by this defendant in stabbing Miss Martel over and over and over again'' during what McGovern called a “protracted struggle'' in the kitchen, the living and the doorway to the patio.

When they were both in the patio, McGoven said, eyewitnesses allegedly saw Remy “on top of Miss Martel stabbing her repeatedly with the knife.''

The prosecutor said that when Waltham police arrived after getting numerous 911 calls, Remy held his hands over his head and surrendered without incident to the officers.

His clothing was soaked with Martel's blood, McGovern said.

The child was at home during the brutal attack on her mother, said Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan, who added that the little girl is in the custody of the Department of Children and Families after the crime.

Remy, 34, was arraigned in Waltham District Court today, where not guilty pleas were entered to charges of murder and domestic assault and battery. Remy, who stood in the prisoner's dock with eyes closed during most of the proceeding, was ordered held without bail.

It was the second time this week Remy stood in the prisoner's dock at the Waltham court, accused of physically assaulting Martel, who was 27 years old. On Tuesday night, Remy allegedly pushed Martel into a mirror in their home, and was arrested on assault and battery with a dangerous weapon charge.

Remy was released on personal recognizance on Wednesday. Ryan said her office recommended Remy's release on personal recognizance based, in part, on a conversation prosecutors had with Martel and with Waltham police.

“Mr. Remy was released on personal recognizance with a bail warning and a no abuse order,'' Ryan said. “The bail recommendation on Wednesday was based on the totality of the circumstances, the singular [criminal charge] count in the case as well as conversations with the investigating officer – as well as Miss Martel.''

She added: “On Wednesday, a [bail] request was made based on the information that we had on Wednesday. Obviously and tragically, there is different information today, Friday morning.''

According to docket at Waltham District Court, Martel obtained an emergency restraining order against Remy at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, which remained in effect until Wednesday when the courthouse opened.

But she did not appear in the restraining order session of the court held on Wednesday, and the restraining order expired on Wednesday. “Plaintiff failed to appear,'' the docket reads. “Event not held.''

In court today, McGovern said Martel was not in the courthouse on Wednesday.

“Because Miss Martel elected not to extend the restraining order and and did not come to court on Wednesday morning'' Remy was released, McGovern said.

During today's arraignment for murder, Remy's defense attorney, Peter Bella, did not contest the bail order. After the hearing, Bella said he has spoken to Remy's family. The suspect is the son of famed Boston Red Sox player and broadcaster Jerry Remy.

“I've been in contact with the Remys. They are devastated,'' Bella said. “This is a very sad and tragic day for two families.''

Bella said he has only limited information about the incident, and said that his client had wounds on his hands that might be “construed as defensive wounds.... I'm not sure anyone really knows what happened, what started this whole issue. We know how it ended. We don't know how it started.''

On Wednesday, Middlesex prosecutors did not ask that Remy be held under the state's dangerousness law, which was enacted in the early 1990s to give prosecutors a tool in the fight against domestic violence.

But on Nov. 7, 2005 when Remy kicked, punched and dragged his then-ex girlfriend in their former home in Waltham, Middlesex prosecutors did use the law - which led to Remy being held for at least 81 days at the Middlesex Jail, according to court records.

In their report, Waltham police wrote that the victim was bleeding from her nose and her mouth and that there was blood on the floor of the kitchen when they arrived. The victim told them that the violent assault only ended when she ran away to a neighbor's home and called police.

The case was resolved in January 2006 when Remy admitted to sufficient facts to support a guilty finding and was ordered to serve one year at the Middlesex House of Correction, a sentence that was suspended while he was placed on probation.

Remy was served with a restraining order on Nov. 7 - and then was accused of violating it on Nov. 8 when he spoke to his former girlfriend as she waited for him to be arraigned in the Waltham courthouse.

According to Waltham District Court records, Remy has been prosecuted at least 14 separate times in that courthouse alone since 1998 - and at least one of those cases involved a third woman he is accused of assaulting.

In 2009, the Globe reported that Remy and a second member of the Red Sox security staff were implicated in steroid use, a revelation that led Major League Baseball to open an investigation into the alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs during the team's 2008 pennant race.

Both Remy and the second man were fired by the Red Sox. Major League Baseball did not find evidence of steroid use among Red Sox players at that time, the Globe reported.

In interviews with the Globe in 2009, Remy denied supplying steroids to his coworker, but acknowledged that he has been a steroid user.

At that time, the Globe described Remy as “massively muscular man'' who loved weightlifting - and also admitted beating up a former girlfriend in 2005.